William compton



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM COMPTON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PIANOFORTE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 9,014, dated June 15, 1852.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM COMPTON, of the city and State of New York, have invented new and useful Sectional Metallic Frame and Bridge for Square and all other Horizontal Pianos; and I do hereby declare that the following is a true and exact description thereof.

The nature of my improvement consists in the shaping that part of the frame marked A, A, in the annexed drawings as an arch; the curvature and shape of which is varied according to the nature of the instrument; the outer edge or rim is raised to give additional strength and may either form a solid bar or be cylindrical. By the use of this arch I obtain greater strength, make the frame much lighter and obtain a more symmetrical form. The inner edge of the plate is a solid rim of iron, raised above the surface of the plate and is part of the plate itself. This inner edge or rim (marked in the annexed drawings B, B,) and which may either extend the whole length of the curve or only a part way thereof is perforated or may be notched out in the shape of the letter T (as indicated in the drawings at C (3,) to allow the strings of the instrument to pass through to the tuning pins which are inserted in the plate or frame near the heavy or outer rim or arch. The side of the inner rim or edge of the frame through which the strings enter may be either an even curve or be notched (as shown in the annexed drawings at D 1),) so that the strings belonging to each note shall be of equal length between the bridges.

Nithin the rim or edge of the frame through which the strings are passed is placed a narrow strip of wood or metal beneath the strings and close to the said rim or edge by means of which the strings are held firmly up to the upper part of the rim o1' edge through which they are passed thus constituting a solid bridge and giving the hammer a solid blow on the string against the bridge instead of striking it from the bridge as in the common instrument. This strip of wood or metal is marked in the drawings E E.

The accompanying drawings numbered l, and 2, 3, 4, 5, show the application of the improvements to the square piano, and the drawing numbered 6 shows the application of the improvements to the grand piano which when placed in its case has the back or heavy edge of the arch toward the keys of the instrument.

To enable those skilled in the art to use my invention I will proceed to describe the mode of construct-ing it.

The section of the frame A, A, as shown in t-he drawings No. l, and 2, & 6 is arched and shaped to correspond with the size and scale of the instrument the inner edge or rim is raised abo-ut half an inch in order to have sufficient strength to bear the strain of the strings and is made beveling under to allow the hammers of the piano to come up to the string near to the bridge in the treble part of the instrument the bridge is then drilled and the holes countersunk where necessary from the back side of the bridge, or if the bridge is notched in the shape of the letter T the strings may be let in from above. The outer rim or arch of the same section of the frame may be raised about three quarters of an inch and made from one inch to two and a half inches in width according to the strain likely to be placed o-n the instrument from its size and number of strings and can be made either solid or hollow underneath the middle part of the same section where the turning pins are let in may be about of an inch in thickness. A strip of wood or metal is placed along the back of the bridge for the strings to rest on and to keep them rm up to the bearing against the bridge. The inner edge of the bridge is either made in an even face or notched where it is wished or considered necessary to keep the strings belonging to each note of an equal length. It is then fastened down to the rest plank with a sufficient number of countersunk screws in the part where the tuning pins come and about six large screws or bolts on the outer rim 0f the arch.

I do not claim as new metallic frames nor bridges neither the up bearing of the strings nor bringing the strings to an equal length other than in connection with my arrangement.

What I claim is- Making the perforated bridge for the up bearing of the strings a part of the solid arched frame or plate as described.

WM. COMPTON.

Witnesses:

JAMES I-I. WILLIAMS, WM. D. BOOTH. 

